Starch heater or table.



0. M. STEPPAGHER, STARGH HEATER 0R TABLE. i APPLICATION FILED MAR.12, 1913.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914.

WITNESSES f i onuevs OSCAR M. STEPPACHER, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

STARCH HEAT-ER OR TABLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

l Patentea'Apr. 21, 1914..

Application-tiled March 12, 1913. Serial No. 753,691.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, OSCAR M. STEPPAGHER, a citizen of the United States,"residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State.

of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Starch Heater or Table, of which the,

. degree.

By my present invention, I provide a novel construction of a heating table, wherein provision is made for supporting a plurality of pails or kettles in such a manner that the same are convenient of access to the operators, said kettles at the same time being simultaneously heated by a suitable steam-receiving pipe within the water-receiving body or tank of the apparatus, the

sides, end and top vthereof being constructedv ofwood so as to prevent an undue radiation of heat, while .the'top of t` e apparatus is exteriorly covered with a sheathing of metal which reinforces said top and strengthens the walls of the opening in the top member in which the pails or other vessels are inserted, said sheathing being also adapted to form a starchingtable; y

To the abovek ends, my invention consists of a novel construction of -a steam starch heater or table, the principal features of which will hereinafter be fully set forth and particularly pointed out in the claims.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention, I have shown in the' accompanying drawings one form thereof which is at present preferred by me, since the same has been found in practice `to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists can bevariously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited tothe precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

Figure 1 representsalongitudinal sectional view of a steam starch heater or table embodying my invention certain of the parts being shown in elevation, the section being taken on line m- Fig. 2. Fig. 2 represents'a plan view of Fig. 1, certain of the parts being broken away for clearness iof illustration. Fig.. 3- represents a section on line of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 represents a perspective` view of` a detached portion.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding partsl in the figures. y vReferring to the drawings, 1 designates my novel construction of a steam starch heater or table, the ysame comprising the bottom portion 2 which is rabbeted or otherwise secured to the side walls 3, and the end walls 4, said sides, ends and bottom being held in assembled position by any suitable transverse fastening devices, as the bolts or the like 5, said sides, ends and bottom forming a hollow, elongated or trough-shaped receptaclefor" tank, said bolts 5 passing through plates 6,'which are placed against the vsides 3 and serve to strengthen the latter while also formingseats for the heads and nuts of said bolts to prevent. the same from breaking ythrough said sides. The box 7 is adapted to be :filled to about the level indicated in Fig. 1.

`8 designates the top of the heat-er which extends beyond the sides 3 and is preferably made of wood, upon which is placed the copper or other metallic covering or sheathing,

'9, the latter comprising the table proper on which the starching of goods is accomplished, it being only comparatively Warm owing to the poor heat non-conducting nature of the wooden top 8 ybelow it. Said sheathing or covering extends to the extreme edges of said top which extends beyond the sides 'of the body of the device so as to prevent vthe surplus starch from flowing down said sides, and the hands of the worker will not contact with the Wood of the top and body and so will be removed from liability of, being subjected to splinters, while themetal covering forms a smooth surface of metal y 1,094,1ve

vthe steam is conducted ordinarily at about ninety'pounds pressure, said steam passing thence through a reducing valve 14 into the pipe 15, where the pressure is reduced to about ten pounds and thence passing through the safety valve 16 and branch 17X into the loop formed by the branches 17 18 and 19, the discharge from saidbranch 19 taking place through the outlet pipe 20 into the steam trap 21. Said pipe 13 is firmly supported on brackets 16x Within the box. The steam loop formed by the branches 17, 18 and 19 is located within the Water contained in the tank 7, and said Water can be readily withdrawn according ,to requirements, by proper manipulation of thevalve 22 in the drain pipe 23. The entire apparatus can be supported in any suitable manner, but I have shown in the present instance supporting legs or frame Work 24 employed, which can be secured to the sides 3 iin any suitable manner, as will be evident.

As shown in Fig. 4, the end walls 4 are rabbeted into the side walls 3, and When the nuts on the bolts 5 are roperly screwed-up, the rabbeted joints o ,said side and end Walls are closed tightly2 this being specially l which is evident.

necessaryas the Water 1n the tank is highlyr heated by the steam and so leakage at said joints' otherwise is likely to occur is prevented. Then as the ends of the side walls 3 are extended beyond the end walls 4 and the extensions are pierced with openings for the passage therethrough of the bolts 5, said openings are outside of the Water space of the tank and so are removed from causing leakage of the tank, and the bolts are removed from water andsteam, the effect of The operation is as follows The lWater having beenA introduced into the tank 7 by any suitable means, and the valve 26 having been opened, it Will be apparent that steam at the desired pressure and temperature will be conducted through the loop formed by the branches 17, 18 and 19, and the Water contained within the tank having been heated tothe desired temperature, through the medium of the steam loop, the starch receptacles 11- will at all times, also, be heated to the proper temperature, and will be supported in a place convenient of access to the operators. When it is desired to shut olf the supply of heat, the same can be done the apparatus can be readily drained by proper manipulation of the valve 22 in thedrain pipe 23.

By the .provision of the Wooden sides 3, wooden ends 4, and the Wooden base 2, I prevent undue radiation ofthe heat from the contents of the heating tank 7, which is extremely desirable in heated rooms such as are common in laundries.

By the provision of the copper or metallic facing 9 which covers the wooden top 8 of the table, it will be apparent that the top of the table is protected and strengthened and the Wooden body and top being poor heat conductors, the heat -is confined within the tank.

By the provision of the valve 26 the amount of steam conducted to the steam loop formed by the branches 17, 18 and 19 can be .regulated according to requirements, so that the starch receptacles can be readily heated to the desired temperature. The pipe .13 can be extended to another tableso that if steam is to be cut off from the table shown `in the drawings, said valve 26 will be closed.

While I have .shown my apparatus as designed to support several starch receptacles, it will be apparent -that the number of openings 10 as well as the number of starch receptacles can be increased or diminished according to requirements.

It will now be apparent that I have de vised a novel and useful construction of a steam or starch heater or table which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description, and whileq I have, in the present instance, shown and described a preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that t-he same is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let-- ters Patent, is

1. In a starch heating apparatus of the character stated, a tank adapted to be heated composed of a body formed of sides, ends, a top and a bottom of wood, said top having an opening therein for the vessel to be heated, and a starching table on said top, the same being composed of a metallic plate', the same having an opening therein coincident with that in said top and having its sides extended beyond the' sides of said body'.l

2. In a starch heating apparatus of the character stat-ed, a tank adapted to be heated composed of a body formed of side, end and bottom walls of wood, said end walls being jointed into the side Walls, and said side openings thereon for the vessel to be heated, walls being extended beyond said end walls, and said table having its sides extended beand bolts passing through the extensions of yond the sides of said body.

the side Walls exterior of the end walls, said OSCAR M. STEPPACHER.

5 bolts having tightening devices thereon, said Witnesses:

body having therein a starching table of JOHN A. WIEDERSHEIM, metal, said table and top having coincident C. D. MCVAY. 

